Two new senior facilities for Twin Falls, Idaho Two developers—Grace Assisted Living and Peter Candy—have committed $8 million and $10 million, respectively, to build new senior facilities in Twin Falls, Idaho. Twin Falls, about 100 miles southeast of Boise, is the state’s seventh-largest city (pop. 45,000) and the fastest-growing city in south-central Idaho. The combination of an aging population—about 20% of local workers are 55 or older—and a shortage of retirement facility options made Twin Falls attractive to the two developers. Grace Assisted Living, based in Boise, is investing $8 million in a 78,000 square-foot, 85-unit assisted living facility that is expected to open in spring 2015. Grace Assisted Living currently operates 16 assisted living facilities throughout the Northwest, with four in Idaho—including one that opened in the city of Eagle, a suburb of Boise, just this month. The Twin Falls facility will be #17. Ketchum-based Peter Candy and his group of investors have begun offsite improvements prior to a planned December groundbreaking on a $10 million, 70-unit CCRC called Canyons Retirement Community. The new community will have 20 independent living cottages, 30 assisted living units, and 20 memory-care units for people with memory problems from both health- and accident-related causes. The CCRC is expected to open in November 2015. TanaBell Health Services, based in Pocatello, and McCall Rehabilitation of McCall, Idaho, will operate the new facility. Twin Falls is the location of the College of Southern Idaho and, perhaps notably, the site of the largest Chobani Greek-style yogurt factory and distribution center in the United States—a source of revenue for Southern Idaho dairymen valued at about $300 million per year and, of course, one of the drivers of the city’s economic growth. Both new senior facilities will be located in close proximity to St. Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center in Twin Falls…Want to read more news? Click here for a free trial to The SeniorCare Investor and download the current issue today

Bright Oaks Group investing big in Chicagoland and Florida Bright Oaks Group plans to develop 20 assisted living communities in suburban Chicago and elsewhere in the Upper Midwest, along with 20 communities in Florida and elsewhere in the Southeast. Four new developments already under construction in Illinois and an additional five in Florida represent about $200 million of the $500 million that Bright Oaks plans to invest in new assisted living projects over the next several years. The company’s first project, Bright Oaks of Aurora (IL), will offer 36 assisted living and 24 memory-care units when it opens in winter 2015. Bright Oaks, a privately held development company founded in 2013, is collaborating with Ecumen and Autumn Senior Living on four of its current projects: Ecumen, based in Shoreview, Minnesota, will manage Bright Oaks of Wood Dale (IL), which is scheduled to open in 2016. The 150-unit assisted living facility, Ecumen’s first managed community in Illinois, will feature multiple neighborhoods, multiple dining areas, intergenerational spaces, and robust life-enrichment programs. The ground floor of the six-story building will feature retail space for companies and health-care organizations that cater to seniors. “We have designed Bright Oaks as an environment that adapts to its residents and not the other way around,” stated Nader Kameli, CEO of Bright Oaks Group. “We will offer services that are essential to comfortable living to our residents and senior members of the surrounding neighborhoods.” Autumn Senior Living, based in Sarasota, will manage three new Florida communities expected to open in 2015: Bright Oaks of Naples, an 83-unit memory-care community; Bright Oaks of Fort Myers, a 140-unit community for both assisted living and memory-care; and Bright Oaks of Wildwood, a 91-unit assisted living and memory-care community. Bright Oaks of Fort Myers and Bright Oaks of Wildwood—as well as Bright Oaks of Wood Dale, in Illinois—will offer an innovative concept called The Bridge, which allows couples to continue to live together even when one needs memory-related care. “Being able to remain with one’s spouse provides a great sense of security and can lighten the difficult burden of memory loss for both partners,” according to Kameli. Chicago-based Bright Oaks Group is a holding company established as part of the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, a program created in 1990 as a way to use foreign investment to stimulate the U.S. economy through business development and job creation. Bright Oaks’ business mission is to create “intentional” communities for seniors needing assisted living and memory care services in a unique model that focuses less on hospitality and more on a home-like setting—a model that encourages and promotes engagement on a personal level. The company’s new developments will add hundreds of construction jobs in the various localities and, when fully operational, hundreds of professional positions in the new communities…Want to read more news? Click here for a free trial to The SeniorCare Investor and download the current issue today

Maplewood Senior Living launches new Connecticut project A 27-acre plot in Southport, Connecticut, will be the site of Maplewood Senior Living’s next assisted living and memory-care community. Maplewood at Southport will be a traditional assisted living/memory-care residence and luxurious in every sense. The design of the 92,000-square-foot, 98-unit community will evoke the tradition of rambling Adirondack and coastal New England resorts of the early 20th century, iconic themes that should blend well in the upscale Mill Hill neighborhood in which the land is situated. The focal point of the Southport property, which is also adjacent to Mill Hill Elementary School, is nature—old-growth trees, flowering plants, and native wildlife such as deer and wild turkeys. A farm in nearby Easton that Maplewood recently purchased to provide fresh produce and a “farm-to-table” experience for all its assisted living facilities in Fairfield County will be especially convenient to Maplewood at Southport residents and their families who wish to visit the farm and meander through its vineyards and orchards. Maplewood is also working with Aspetuck Land Trust, a not-for-profit organization that works to preserve open spaces, to conserve a substantial section of the Maplewood at Southport site for public recreation and enjoyment—walking trails and educational opportunities, for example. Terraced gardens will overlook the five-acre Mill Pond and a timber entrance bridge. Undoubtedly, it will be lovely. Maplewood Senior Living, based in Westport, currently owns and operates six assisted living and memory-care communities in Connecticut’s Fairfield County and another in Chardon, Ohio. In addition, Maplewood maintains a portfolio of professional office projects for medical office use. In the near future, Greg Smith, CEO, expects Maplewood to have as many as nine assisted living/memory-care facilities in Fairfield County. The company recently closed on development projects in New Jersey and Massachusetts…Want to read more news? Click here for a free trial to The SeniorCare Investor and download the current issue today

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